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My First Real Trip, a July 2012 PTR: **CHANGES UPDATE 6/18**

A Weight Loss Update

With the stress of the end of the school year, I ended up not being able to lose that much weight - in fact, I put a little bit of weight back on. My trainer came to my rescue, and modified a diet that previously did not work for me (I love her, she is all about using what works best for each individual), even though she is not currently training me. Since the last day of school, I've managed to take off about 7.5 lbs. I'm at my lowest weight since college. Right now, I'm roughly at 213 lbs. If I can get down to 200 lbs before our trip, I'd be amazingly happy.

I bought several pairs of jean/khaki shorts (ok, more than several) in a size smaller than I was able to wear. As of today, I have 6 pair that fit comfortably, 2 additional pair that semi-comfortably (they're way shorter than I'm used to and I think that's the issue right now), and 2 pair that I don't think I'll be able to wear. Additionally, I have 4 pair of cotton shorts and 2 pair of running shorts, along with 3 or 4 pair in a bigger size that I could wear with a belt as a last resort. I know I'll have to do laundry at least once on our trip.

I'm also proud to say that NONE of my shirts for this trip are plus-sized (although it was a challenge with my bust size :rotfl:). I bought a ton of $3.88 tank tops at Walmart, and they fit comfortably. I think I just have to let go and not worry about how I look - hard for me to do, especially since my husband purchased PhotoPass and wants to upgrade to PhotoPass+.
 
Congrats on the weight loss! Well done! Your countdown calendar is so cute too! Looking forward to hearing more!
 
Congratulations on your weight loss success! I totally understand where you're coming from - I've lost around 35 lbs and hope to lose at least another 20 by our trip - 102 days away! Isn't it a great feeling to know you've gone down in size? I went shopping a few weeks ago for some new summer tops and capris and was thrilled to buy a smaller size. :)

Anyway, don't worry too much about how you'll look there. If your face is happy and you're relaxed and smiling, that's all that matters. No stressing over it!
 
Off the Beaten Path

J is very interested in doing some things that are “hidden gems.” On our list so far:

Play mini-golf
Carriage ride at POR
Characters in Flight
Pick an oyster in EPCOT (Japan)
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom (for J)
Swim in the Shark Reef at Typhoon Lagoon
Electrical Water Pageant (after dinner at Kona Cafe)

I'd love to add some interesting things to this list, so if you know of anything interesting, let me know.

:wave2: Joining in!

What about the wine tour in Epcot?

Early congrats on your anniversary! :flower3: And congrats on the weight loss, too. I know it is hard, I'm struggling myself, but keep working at it and you will get there. ;)
 


Your plans looks great. We love Chef Mickeys.
You may already know this, but Sci-Fi does not play entire movies, just short snip-its of different movies. The 1st time we went, I thought we were going to be watching a whole movie!
Congrats on your weight loss!
We did the waterparks on our 1st trip & loved them! But, we have not been able to fit it in again :guilty: I would love to one day spend 2 weeks at WDW & do everything!!!
 
Hi There!!! I've been reading along with your ptr and wanted to let you know I am here.

You sound a lot like me!! Our weights are about the same and I think our feelings on weight are about the same. Although I've got to say congrats on your weight loss so far. I've done just about everything to lose weight ---I even had the lap band inserted but I had that removed as I got so sick from it. I'm such a slacker on exercise. I have every intention of doing some, but then when it comes time to exercise, I always have an excuse. I know better as I'm a diabetic, so I know the importance of it, but still.....:confused:

I too would love to be under 200lbs for my trip. I have until mid-August so it's doable. I've just got to get my mind set.

As for Disney, yes, we are planning to go to DTD our first night to upgrade to Photopass +. With all the ride photos and character meals we have planned, I think it is totally worth it! You'll have to let me know how it all worked for you.

I LOVE, LOVE LOVE O'hana's for breakfast as I'm very fond of the big blue dude, too. We've also done Tusker House and Chef Mickey's for breakfast. You will enjoy them both! We've also done Garden Grill and Sci-Fi Diner. See??? I told you we are alot alike. Our ADR's are pretty similar!

Ok, well I just wanted to say HI!!! :goodvibes
 


Yes, congrats on your weight loss!!! :banana: I just got the go ahead 2 days ago to start planning our Disney trip, which will take place in November. My husband only agreed to it if I promised to "get in shape" before we go. I'm sad to say that I'm at my highest weight and just sick about it. So starting on monday I'm starting my diet. :headache: My goal is to loose 40 lbs before November 10th. **Minimum** I have twice that amount to loose, but 40 lbs off my joints is going to feel AMAZING!!! I'm not doing it for vanity reasons, I just want to become healthier AND I want to walk the parks ALL day and NOT feel like dying when I get back to the hotel room because I'm so sore.

You'll be at Disney for my birthday (July 8th) I'm so jealous! Your plans sound like a ton of fun. I remember the days of going to disney without kids. ENJOY it while you can. Taking my kids is priceless, but I long for those days when it was just my husband and I too. :rolleyes1 Hope you have a wonderful time!
 
Congrats on the weight loss! Well done! Your countdown calendar is so cute too! Looking forward to hearing more!

Thank you so much, on both accounts! Happy to have you reading along :goodvibes

Congratulations on your weight loss success! I totally understand where you're coming from - I've lost around 35 lbs and hope to lose at least another 20 by our trip - 102 days away! Isn't it a great feeling to know you've gone down in size? I went shopping a few weeks ago for some new summer tops and capris and was thrilled to buy a smaller size. :)

Anyway, don't worry too much about how you'll look there. If your face is happy and you're relaxed and smiling, that's all that matters. No stressing over it!

Congrats on your weight loss as well! It is a great feeling to know that my size is down, even if I can't see it when I look in the mirror (I have extremely low self-confidence when it comes to looks). I was SO happy to be able to comfortably wear a size 18 shorts yesterday. I don't think I've worn shorts in four or five years. Thank you so much for the encouragement. One of my friends (who lives in Florida) said I won't be the worst-looking person there by a longshot, so not to worry! :rotfl:

:wave2: Joining in!

What about the wine tour in Epcot?

Early congrats on your anniversary! :flower3: And congrats on the weight loss, too. I know it is hard, I'm struggling myself, but keep working at it and you will get there. ;)

Thanks for the suggestion on the wine tour. That's something I'm definitely interested in, even though I know J won't be - wine gives him a headache. Maybe he can do one of the beer samplers instead. It will ultimately depend on the weather - if it's too hot for us, we won't drink at all - but we do plan on spending a late night in Epcot, so that might be the time to do it. Also, thanks for the encouragement on the weight loss. It is, by far, the hardest thing I've ever done. This also seems to be my plateau point. It's funny how easy it is to put on, but how HARD it is to take off. You'll get there too :goodvibes

Your plans looks great. We love Chef Mickeys.
You may already know this, but Sci-Fi does not play entire movies, just short snip-its of different movies. The 1st time we went, I thought we were going to be watching a whole movie!
Congrats on your weight loss!
We did the waterparks on our 1st trip & loved them! But, we have not been able to fit it in again :guilty: I would love to one day spend 2 weeks at WDW & do everything!!!

Thanks! I wasn't sure exactly how the movies at Sci-Fi worked - glad to know they're just snip-its. It may be easier to get J to leave that way :rotfl: He has said he would spend his whole day there if I'd let him (he's a horror/sci-fi nut - to give you an idea, we have two bookshelves of DVDs. One is ALL horror and sci-fi, the other one is everything else). I'm looking forward to the water parks. I don't think I've been to one since I was 12. I don't even care if I only ride a few things and then lounge in the lazy river for a bit, it's just so relaxing!
 
Hi There!!! I've been reading along with your ptr and wanted to let you know I am here.

You sound a lot like me!! Our weights are about the same and I think our feelings on weight are about the same. Although I've got to say congrats on your weight loss so far. I've done just about everything to lose weight ---I even had the lap band inserted but I had that removed as I got so sick from it. I'm such a slacker on exercise. I have every intention of doing some, but then when it comes time to exercise, I always have an excuse. I know better as I'm a diabetic, so I know the importance of it, but still.....:confused:

I too would love to be under 200lbs for my trip. I have until mid-August so it's doable. I've just got to get my mind set.

As for Disney, yes, we are planning to go to DTD our first night to upgrade to Photopass +. With all the ride photos and character meals we have planned, I think it is totally worth it! You'll have to let me know how it all worked for you.

I LOVE, LOVE LOVE O'hana's for breakfast as I'm very fond of the big blue dude, too. We've also done Tusker House and Chef Mickey's for breakfast. You will enjoy them both! We've also done Garden Grill and Sci-Fi Diner. See??? I told you we are alot alike. Our ADR's are pretty similar!

Ok, well I just wanted to say HI!!! :goodvibes

Thank you so much on the congrats and encouragement. I contemplated the lap band (and even gastric bypass) after a bad appointment with a fertility specialist - they suggested I go straight to weight loss surgery before trying any interventions. I was told I'd never get my metabolism up enough to lose a significant amount of weight. For the record, I never went back - but if I ever get down to my goal weight, I may make another appointment just to walk in and say, "Look, I WAS able to lose this weight on my own" and see how they respond. At one point, I was on Metformin because I have PCOS and it made me incredibly sick, so they had me stop taking it. I'm due to have bloodwork done soon though.

Anyway...I will definitely report back on the Photopass+. My biggest debate has been about if it's worth it for us - but J said he would like to have the dining photos, and since we have so many of them scheduled, it would be worth it. Our ADRs are very similar. In fact, reading your PTR, you almost sound like you could be my twin! :rotfl:

Way to go on the weight loss! :thumbsup2

Thank you so much! :goodvibes

Yes, congrats on your weight loss!!! :banana: I just got the go ahead 2 days ago to start planning our Disney trip, which will take place in November. My husband only agreed to it if I promised to "get in shape" before we go. I'm sad to say that I'm at my highest weight and just sick about it. So starting on monday I'm starting my diet. :headache: My goal is to loose 40 lbs before November 10th. **Minimum** I have twice that amount to loose, but 40 lbs off my joints is going to feel AMAZING!!! I'm not doing it for vanity reasons, I just want to become healthier AND I want to walk the parks ALL day and NOT feel like dying when I get back to the hotel room because I'm so sore.

You'll be at Disney for my birthday (July 8th) I'm so jealous! Your plans sound like a ton of fun. I remember the days of going to disney without kids. ENJOY it while you can. Taking my kids is priceless, but I long for those days when it was just my husband and I too. :rolleyes1 Hope you have a wonderful time!

Yay for planning a trip! :woohoo: I'm already trying to convince J that we should plan another trip, and this one hasn't even happened yet! My biggest headache with loosing weight has been exercise. The diet itself was surprisingly easy (except for changing the amount of carbs I consume). If you ever want to talk, feel free to PM me. Starting is the hardest part. :hug: One of my reasons for wanting to lose some weight was this trip, and my asthma. Even though I'm not where I'd hoped to be, it's still better than where I was.

I'll think of you on your birthday! I'm hoping that our next Disney trip will be with a baby, so that's why we're going all out this time. This is probably the only time we'll ever do it like this, and a wonderful time is definitely our plan :)
 
Day 9 – July 15th​

We’ll be spending our day at IOA. The package we bought allows us to enter The Wizarding World of Harry Potter an hour early. :wizard: The park opens at 8am, so we’ll be allowed to enter at 7am…and we’ll be walking from our hotel…so we’ll probably leave our hotel by 6am! OUCH! I purchased Universal Express passes for us, so the plan is to go to WWoHP, ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (worried about this due to my weight, and J’s broad shoulders), ride Dragon Challenge (again, hoping we both can ride it even though I’m TERRIFIED of this coaster :scared1:), ride Flight of the Hippogriff, and then go to Ollivander’s. Depending on what time it is, we may visit more of the shops. We have a 9:30 breakfast reservation at Three Broomsticks. J wants to try Butterbeer, and I want to try Pumpkin Juice. I also have a feeling that we’ll be coming away with quite a few souvenirs from WWoHP, including some treats from Honeydukes (although we probably won’t stop here until the end of the day). I know I also want a Pygmy Puff from Zonkos. Oh, and we’ll have to send ourselves a letter from the owl post.

Anyway…a bit carried away there. We may hit up more rides before seeing the rest of WWoHP, since we have the Express passes, and come back and do the shopping later. The reasoning behind the Express passes was so that we could ride the most of the rides, and still have time to see the park, without really following a touring plan. The part of the day I spent there before, half of the rides were not operating due to the weather, and I spent most of the time hiding out. I do remember riding the Incredible Hulk coaster. We plan on eating lunch and dinner as we get hungry. We won’t be riding Pteranodon Flyers, as we don’t have a child with us, and I absolutely refuse to ride Dr. Doom’s Fearfall. We had a similar ride at a local amusement park (Kennywood), and just watching it always made me feel sick. We had also not planned on seeing the Eighth Voyage of Sindbad, but it is on the Express passes so we may decide to see it.

Day 10 – July 16th

We’ll be in Universal Studios on this day. We also have Express passes for Universal. This was J’s idea. I’m sure the first ride we’ll go for is the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (terrified of this one, too), or Minion Mayhem, if it’s open. One thing I’m not sure of is Fear Factor Live – watching Fear Factor on TV always made me gag. J is ambivalent about it.

It was supposed to be a surprise, but J made reservations for the viewing of Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular from Lombard’s. :lovestruc He’s horrible at keeping secrets. That is the only reservation we have on that day, and it’s a late dinner (7:45pm, I think), so meals will be as we feel hungry.

Day 11 – July 17th

Most likely, we’ll be in IOA again on this day. Originally we weren’t going to Universal Studios at all, so I doubt we’d devote two days to it. We don’t have any Express passes for this day, since you have to pick the date when you purchase. We do have a reservation for Mythos at 3:15, but if for some reason we decide to go to Universal instead of IOA, we’ll just cancel. I highly doubt that will happen though. Once again, another early day, if we decide to take advantage of the early admission. We plan on doing anything we didn’t get to do, ride a few favorites, and probably spending the bulk of our time in WWoHP. We may not stay in the park the whole day, since the next day will be our departure.

Departure – July 18th

We will be leaving VERY early, since we’re driving. J says no later than 6am, and what he says goes because he has to work the next day. I’d like to leave even earlier because I’m sure I’ll be more than ready to come home to my three fur-babies. If we leave the park early on the 17th, we may go to sleep early and leave very early. Our departure time is all going to depend on how we feel. I know I’ll be sad to leave, but happy to be going home to my kitties. :cat::cat::cat:
 
We got MICKEY MAIL today!!

:cloud9:

This makes the trip seem all the more real. And the pessimist in me - I'll still have my doubts until we arrive on property :rolleyes1
 
Some Changes​

I really thought we'd be done with changes now, just over two weeks out. Just goes to show you never know. We aren't going to be able to do the IllumiNations Fireworks Cruise on July 14th. The other group we were supposed to go with is no longer able to go, and it's just too much money for just us. I'm slightly disappointed, but I know it's something we can always do in the future - and it will work out better for our budget this time around.

So, we had dinner scheduled at Captain's Grille so we could have a relaxing evening and not have to rush to make it to the fireworks cruise. We canceled Captain's Grille and J picked The Wave. That means our last day will be a monorail day with breakfast at Grand Floridian and dinner at Contemporary. J loves the monorail, so I think he's looking forward to this day even more without the fireworks cruise.
 
Yay for Mickey Mail!!:yay::dance3::yay: There's nothing better!!!:goodvibes

Sorry that you had to cancel your Illuminations Fireworks Cruise. It sounds like everything worked out though. Plus, as you mentioned it gives you something to look forward to on your next trip!!:thumbsup2
 
We're leaving in about 3 hours to begin our drive from PA. We're stopping on the way down to see some friends, and we should be in our one-night hotel by 5pm. Then we'll head to Downtown Disney for some food and to redeem our PhotoPass+ voucher.

I've been a hormonal mess for the last few days, and have been sporadically bawling over having to leave my furbabies. :rolleyes: We don't have kids, so they're my babies. I'm also a huge worrywart (doubly so when it's that time of the month), and I'm terrified of something happening to them while we're gone. I'm excited to go and be at Disney and Universal, but I'm dreading leaving in a few hours, especially since the kitten meows sadly :sad1: whenever we shut the door, and the other two have been giving me hell in the form of meows and chirps since we brought the luggage downstairs a few days ago. I know I'll be fine once we're into the drive. It's safe to say I'll call my MIL at least once a day to check in on my girls.

But it's Disney...the vacation we've wait for is finally here! :dance3:
 
Yay, your trip is here!

And I know what you mean about leaving the fur-babies... our dog knows when we're leaving to go somewhere, she gets so mopey and sad it just breaks my heart! Everything will be fine with your girls :hug:

Safe travels and have a magical trip!
 

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